Let's Not Panic: driving from San Francisco to Patagonia and definitely not panicking

[aawolf]

Hello Expedition Portal,

I thought it was about time to introduce ourselves. We're Maggie and Adam, a married couple driving our 2000 4Runner from San Francisco to Patagonia.



Our route took across the southern part of the US as far as New Orleans. Then back to Houston where we shipped our vehicle to Colombia. We decided to focus on just South America since putting the vehicle on a boat in one form or another is pretty much required no matter how you slice it.

Our vehicle is a black 2000 Toyota 4Runner with a Magiolina roof top tent, dual batteries, a refrigerator, power inverter, and a heavy duty kitchen setup. We call her/him Shadow (there's contention in our ranks about Shadow's gender).



We've been keeping a consistent podcast along the way. I hope some of you find enjoyment from it.

Podcast website:
http://letsnotpanic.com/podcast

Podcast direct links:
http://itunes.com/letsnotpanic
http://letsnotpanic.libsyn.com/rss

Website:
http://letsnotpanic.com/blog

We're currently in Valledupar, Colombia after having spend quite a few extra weeks dealing with shipping and customs delays. It's great to be on the road again!

Best,

-Adam & Maggie

 

[aawolf]

Punta Gallinas, the northernmost point of SA and one of the remotest in Colombia

Our first South American trip report has just been posted on our blog. We mostly do the podcast, but some of the more eventful side trips we take warrant their own written post as well.

If you're curious about how you can drive your own vehicle all the way to the northern tip of South America, this post if for you. The Guajira province is absolutely gorgeous, I highly recommend this rewarding trip.

Link:

http://www.letsnotpanic.com/blog/2016/9/14/theres-no-there-there

 

[jorgec]

I just got back as well but we had flooded road the last hour to Cabo

 

[99Yota]

Thanks for sharing- I'll definitely be paying attention as this is something on the bucket list!

Have a couple questions which I can PM.

 

[aawolf]

I just got back as well but we had flooded road the last hour to Cabo

Ah ha! We headed straight out to Riohacha after Punta Gallinas that day, so missed the flooding. Apparently the whole region got a ton of much-needed rain in the recent hurricane, so I'll bet the conditions are quite a bit more difficult now.

It's a small world. How far are you headed South?

 

[aawolf]

Quick update: Maggie and I have been off the road temporarily for a couple weeks. Our 4Runner is safe and sound in a residential parking garage of a friend we met on the road. We flew back to San Francisco specifically for Maggie's children's book launch. It's been a great time and we're gearing up to return to Colombia on Monday.

In the meantime, we thought we'd take advantage of the copious bandwidth available to us to do a couple of interviews on the podcast with people in the van life and overlanding community.

Here's us talking with Gale Straub of She Explores, and here's our latest talking with Richard and Ashley of Desk to Glory.

Let us know what you think!

 

[aawolf]

Greetings from Southern Peru!

We had our very first overlanding calamity, stuck in the mud and the snow at 16,000+ feet. Overnight.

We recorded a podcast episode about it that goes into a lot of detail, and also wrote this blog post cataloguing our choices. What we'd LOVE to know is what we could have done different. Expertise and feedback greatly appreciated!

Link:
http://www.letsnotpanic.com/blog/2017/1/13/mud-youre-gross-and-i-hate-you



 

[dar395]

Crap! if you were like the rest of the people (Thank God Your Not!) you could have just stay at home safe on the couch and watched the TV and all of the bad things that are put out there to get you, just like this did. But and it's a BIG BUTT! I would not have gotten to see a great adventure that you were able to share and live through just fine! Thanks for the trip report!

 

[outback97]

That's some nasty mud! Looks like you guys did the best that you could with what you had available.

Airing the tires down further may have helped (30 PSI is barely above street pressure) and I'm guessing some Maxtrax or other traction boards would have been helpful too. I'm curious about additional suggestions others may have.

 

[jpneely]

Any reason yall didn't adventure down to central America and ship your truck from there? Me and the wife are considering doing the same general thing yall are doing! im trying to get all my ducks in a row and make sure we're ready (ready being a loose term)! hopefully alls going well!

 

[Pinnacle Campers]

Since you are asking for input I will say the following,
Looks like you did just fine...if you were hoping to not get stuck, a South American adventure may not be the best thing or going off that "road", and or being on that "road" in the first place.
Had you ever been stuck in the mud before? Preparedness and knowledge are the only things that would have helped, luckily you have both now.
Also, it sounds like you panicked a little, neglecting to take care of yourselves. Although I have been guilty of this as well, fight or flight is human nature, it's one of the obstacles of an adventure like that.
I think max tracks would be well worth the cost....
Good luck with your travels and thanks for posting!

 

[ylojelo]

Hi-Lift jack and a Lift-mate (and the Max Tracks).

 

[echo7tango]

I am enjoying your trip report, thank you!

What we'd LOVE to know is what we could have done different. Expertise and feedback greatly appreciated!

One quick thing to add to what others have already suggested is signaling equipment. You were fortunate to flag down Menau and Lario by yelling and waving your arms, but a small pocket whistle is dirt cheap and does a lot better than yelling. You can blow a whistle all day long but can't yell all day long. And maybe a flag of sorts, to wave.

Safe travels!

 

[CZ Brat]

Go ask any "expert" overlander or offroader what their worst stuck experience was, and they may regal a story as bad or worse than yours. Especially their first time. You made some mistakes and realized you need to up your equipment some. But you learned from them and you even decided to share them with the rest of us. And since no one was hurt, all in all not the worst thing in the world.Thank you for making us more knowledgeable through your experience.

Your actual question was, what could you do differently. Taken an off-road driving course before your adventure. It would have taught you many of the things you learned the hard way, including technique, equipment, and maybe some survival skills.

Now before you post about some major medical calamity, please take this leseon learned and take an advanced first aid course. This way, if a medical emergency occurs (this incident could have easily resulted in a bad accident), you will have the skills (and hopefully equipment) to deal with it properly.

Good luck on the rest of your great adventure and thanks for sharing.

 

[Vince Evans]

Hi,

I've been stuck many times, living in the NW. But, I always carried a come-a-long and some cable. Out in the open you can bury your spare tire to make an anchor and pull yourself out. If you do not have any extraction device you can bury your spare tire and wrap a tow strap around your front tire using it as a winch and pull yourself out.

At 16,500 ft elevation, could you have waited until first light when the mud would have solidified a bit or frozen to get yourself out. Mud gets softer in the afternoon sun.

As to the worst stuck - I was inside the city limits in Seattle and took 1.5 days to get out. Stuck a tow truck coming to help me and had to have the Sheriff block off a 4 lane roadway to free the tow truck. I was just trying out my new Jeep Pickup.

Good Luck,

Vince Evans
Phoenix, AZ